Christmas Letters
by MusicChannySkyscraper
Summary: A one-shot, based on hope for eternity's story Don't I Know You?, showing a few of Sonny and Chad's Christmases together, and apart. Merry Christmas!


**Hey, everyone! Happy holidays! :D**

**I have three stories to post before Christmas day, coz they're ALL Christmas based, so uh… wish me luck :P **

**This is the first, and it's based on BeingHannah923's story Don't I Know You?, because that is, like, one of my favourite FanFiction stories of ALL TIME. Hiiii, Hannah! Hope you enjoy it! *waves* You can count this as my Christmas present, to you ;D**

**So, here it comes – just a cute random little one-shot all about Hannah's Channy and a few of their Christmases, just because Hannah's Channy are DA BOMB! It starts with their first ever Christmas after they met, and goes on… and it gets less and less fluffy as it goes on.**

**I don't own SWAC, or DIKY. I wish I owned both, but sadly I don't. Oh well, enjoy anyways!**

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><p><strong><em><span>Christmas Letters<span>_**

"Sonny!" The young girl heard her mother's voice call from downstairs, "The Goldfarbs are just coming down the drive."

That little sentence set seven year old Allison (or as many called her, 'Sonny') Munroe off, like she'd been electrocuted. The Goldfarbs had finally arrived! This was the two families' first Christmas together, and why was Sonny so excited? Because she hadn't seen her best friend, Chad Goldfarb, since they left Texas at the end of the summer! Sonny had been so attached at the hip to Chad for the whole of the summer that she and her mother Connie had gone to Texas and met him, and so she knew they had to stay in contact. He was her bestest friend, for crying out loud! And so, the Goldfarbs; Chad and his two sisters **(Esme not born yet, I think) **and his mom and dad… they were all there for the Christmas holidays.

And Sonny couldn't have been more excited!

Chad Goldfarb jumped out of his dad's car, and scanned his best friend's house for the very first time. He was kind of nervous – he hadn't seen Sonny since August. He'd been able to call her, as their moms had exchanged telephone numbers, but still… it had been about 4 months since he'd properly seen Sonny, and he was hoping they could have as much fun as they did in the summer! Sure, his friends from Texas were great, but Sonny was different. Fun. Whenever he was with her, they just messed about and got into trouble with a bunch of adults.

Just how Chad liked it.

Before Chad could examine his surroundings, his small brunette best friend flung herself at him, hugging him tightly.

"Chad!" She screamed into his ear, and he chuckled.

"Hey, Sonny." He grinned, "Ya missed me?"

"Yup!" Sonny mumbled into his shoulder, "Did _you_ miss _me_?"

"You bet I did!" Chad replied happily, making Sonny giggle. "What so funny?"

"I've missed your Texas voice." She smirked, "It's funny."

"Oh, you like it, do ya?" Chad asked, going into full Texan drawl, making Sonny explode with laughter, "Well, darlin', I reckon we're in for a load of fun these next few weeks we be havin'!"

"You reckon correct!" Sonny smirked.

"You got anything cool 'round here?" Chad asked, pulling away from his friend and looking around, and Sonny took his hand and squeezed it tightly. It was just as warm as she remembered, and really comforting!

"We've got loads of parks and stuff." Sonny explained, "Not as cool as our park back in Texas, but they're parks."

"As long as we can wreck something…" Chad said with a wink, which caught the ear of Chad's oldest sister, Vanessa.

"Sounds good…" The tween said warily as she took a suitcase out of the back of the car, "You guys wrecked as bunch of things in Texas, now you're gonna destroy Wisconsin, too. Gosh, Sonny, watch out being round my brother… he's gonna take you over to the dark side!"

"It's fun over the dark side, though!" Chad joke-pouted, "We have cookies."

"I'm in!" Sonny giggled, high-fiving her best friend as Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"You two are crazy." She said.

"And proud!" Chad told his sister, who ignored the two's impressively-long handshake and headed into the house, following her parents and sisters, leaving the two best friends outside, alone.

"Wait till you see what I got you for Christmas…" Sonny nudged Chad, "I have a feeling we'll both enjoy it…"

Chad shrugged, "My mom picked out your present. Everything I picked out she said would cause 'damage'."

Sonny smirked, "In our hands… yup, it probably would. Especially considering the things _you_ would pick out."

"Haha," Chad wrapped his arms around his best friend, "I've missed you."

The two wandered into the house, hand in hand, before being stopped by Sonny's mother Connie. Chad gazed up at his Auntie Connie, who took his coat of him and started gushing. Sonny groaned under her breath.

"Chad, dear, it's so good to see you!" She smiled, crouching down to his level, "Sonny has missed you so much! You have no idea how many times she's asked me to send her back to Texas to see you!"

A blush crept onto both of the kids' cheeks as Sonny rolled her eyes, "Mom!" She complained, "Don't be creepy!"

Sonny's mother sighed and left the two alone to talk to Chad's mom, Julia, and Sonny watched her mother leave with a death glare before shrugging and running up the stairs, gripping onto Chad who was forced to follow her up. Sonny dragged her friend into her room and locked the door behind them with a grin. Chad scanned his best friend's room – it was mostly girly, kind of like he expected. Pink, fluffy, with mild hints of tomboyish stuff… yup, this was his Sonny's room. The eight-year old's eyes met with his friend's, who grinned at him happily.

"Did you bring your list?" She asked him, and he smirked and dragged out a folded piece of paper.

"You bet I did!" Chad beamed, unfolding the paper to show his half-completed list to Santa. Sonny dug her list out of her desk and flashed it to Chad, who scanned the list of presents with a smile as Sonny slumped down next to him on her bed.

"_A pony…_" He read about half-way down the list with a smirk, "Aiming high, Sonny…" He said. "You really think Santa'll get you all that?"

"What?" Sonny gasped, "I've been good this year…" Chad raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Well…I mean," Sonny backtracked, "I was good for most of the year… apart from when I was around you. I was maybe a little naughtier those times…"

Chad laughed, "You bad, bad girl, Sonny. Santa will not be impressed."

Sonny rolled her eyes and whacked Chad with her rolled-up list. "Ooh, is it on now?" Chad raised an eyebrow, rolling up his list and preparing for battle.

"Bring it on!" Sonny giggled. The two suddenly jumped up from sitting on their beds, and started to attack each other with their rolled-up paper swords, laughing and screaming and shouting words like "en guarde!" and "huzzah!", and before long, Chad had his best friend pinned against her bed.

"Okay, okay, I give!" She yelled, pouting slightly. Chad melted at the sight of Sonny's sad eyes, which gave her the perfect opportunity. Recovering, Sonny sat up, grabbed the collar on Chad's blue T-shirt and tugged him down next to her. She climbed on top of him and sat on his back until he was screaming his surrenders.

"You cheated! Not fair!" He moaned.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"Too!"

"Not! Aww, darn it!"

Chad smirked, "I win."

"You're so annoying." Sonny crossed her arms and pouted childishly.

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Good."

"Good!"

During their whole fight, Sonny had got off of Chad, and he was now up on his feet, eying her seriously. She did the same, before they both burst out into hysterical laughs.

"Sonny! Chad!" A voice called from downstairs, "You two ready to send your letters?"

"On our way, Mom!" Sonny yelled, before lightly pushing Chad out of the way of the door and running down the stairs, a laughing Chad speeding down the stairs behind her. They reached the front room, where Connie and Julia were sat by the fireplace. They were blowing out the fire, yet the smoke continued to rise to the top of the chimney. Sonny and Chad threw their letters eagerly into the smoke, grabbing each other's hands and squeezing them.

"Here's to our goodness." Sonny whispered, watching the smoke lift the letters up the chimney.

"Yup." Chad mumbled, "And our ever-lasting friendship."

"Yup."

The two watched their letters fly up the chimney, hand in hand.

"We'll always be the best of friends." Sonny told Chad, turning to face him. "Right?"

Chad smiled, tightening the grip on her tiny hand. "Yes, we will." He said, "Promise."

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><p><em>Five days later…<em>

"WHOO-HOOOOO!" Sonny was waken by an excited yell, and she opened her eyes to see Chad next to her, jumping up and down, screaming. "IT'S CHRISTMAS DAYYYYY! YES YES YES!"

"You done?" Sonny giggled at her friend, who bit his lip, and straightened his T-shirt.

"Just about." He mumbled, embarrassed. Sonny giggled, jumping out of her bed and following Chad as he sped down the stairs and into the living room.

Low and behold, there it was. The Christmas tree, presents stuffed under the festive tree. Sonny and Chad's eyes widened, their mouths dropping.

"So… many… presents…" Chad said in awe.

"Can't… wait… to open them…" Sonny said with the same expression.

Chad turned to his friend, smiling innocently, "Surely, if we opened one present, your mom wouldn't be mad…?"

Sonny clicked her tongue, unsure, before shrugging and smiling. "I suppose one little present won't hurt…" She then rolled her eyes and bit her lip, "I am so not on the good list next year, thanks to you."

The seven year old then dived for one of the presents beneath the tree, coincidentally; it was the one she had got for Chad. She smirked, realising what was inside.

"I think I have an idea of how we can wake everyone up and get the other presents quicker…"

Chad smirked, "Hmm… I know that look on your face…"

Sonny passed the present over to her friend, who skilfully unwrapped the paper without a sound. _Obviously, he's done this before_, she thought. His face lit up when he pulled the two mega water guns, before he turned to Sonny with an evil grin plastered on his young face.

"I think I know what your plan is." He said, "I'm so in."

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><p>Eleven year old Vanessa Goldfarb <strong>(I think she'd be eleven… she's 20 in the story, right? Meh…) <strong>rolled over in the sleeping bag she'd been sleeping in for the past few nights, in the Munroe's spare room along with her sister Hayley **(Like I said, I don't think Esme would've been born by then)**. Chad had insisted on sleeping in Sonny's room in his sleeping bag, because, Vanessa knew, those two were inseparable. And, because they had _so much _to catch up on and they were so close that they were attached at the hip from time to time, the two had stayed up, most of the night, every night since the Goldfarbs arrived… keeping everyone else in the house up too. Except Hayley, who slept like a bear in hibernation. Vanessa almost envied her little sister… she was so freaking _tired. _

And so that didn't help when, early Christmas morning, the morning Vanessa planned to sleep in, the light was flicked on and two screaming kids ran into the room with filled water guns in their hands.

"CHRISTMAS MORNING!" Her little brother screamed, squirting his older sister with the water, "Wake up! Wake up!"

"I can't exactly _wake up_ when I never really _got to sleep_." Vanessa rolled her eyes, trying not to snap at the two because, knowing them, they were only having a laugh. Ah, the innocence of youth…

Suddenly, the door swung open, and Connie, Blake, Joe and Julia walked into the room, looking tired and pretty angry. Sonny bit her lip and smiled at her mom and dad innocently, hiding the squirt gun behind her back.

"Merry Christmas, everybody." She murmured, blushing innocently. Hayley, woken up by the screaming, noticed the gun behind Sonny's back. She took it from her carefully, studying it, before pointing it at the brunette's back and giggling.

"Ah…" Vanessa grinned, taking the gun from her little sister and aiming it at Sonny and Chad, who raised their hands in surrender. "Revenge."

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><p>The rest of the day wasn't as eventful. Chad and Sonny behaved, just about. It started snowing, so they went outside and had a snowball fight and made snowmen, keeping away from the water guns because any water they would've squirted would've frozen in an instant, with how cold the fresh Wisconsin air was.<p>

Soon enough, the evening approached, and Sonny and Chad were cuddled up, on the couch watching Christmas specials. Everyone looked to them at certain points in the evening, surprised at how close they could be for two children, especially since they were a boy and a girl. But Sonny and Chad didn't seem to mind the occasional looks – they were the best of friends, and they knew it would stay that way. Forever.

"You're awesome." Chad mumbled into Sonny's hair as they began to fall asleep on the couch. Sonny blushed.

"You're awesome too." She replied, before her eyes flickered shut and she drifted into sleep.

_/C/H/A/N/N/Y/_

13 year old Chad Goldfarb looked out the window of his dad's car to see the same house, five years later. He'd been to this house many times since his first Christmas with his best friend, but now, everything was different.

Sonny's father had recently passed away.

Even outside the house, Chad could see the difference. Uncle Blake's car had been sold, so now there was one less car in the driveway. He could almost feel the heavy cloud hanging above the roof of the house. When he got out of the car, rather than attacking him with a hug, Sonny stood in the doorway, waving. Chad smiled sadly and walked over to his friend, hugging her tightly. He hadn't seen her since… the week he stayed over, for the funeral.

"I've missed you." He mumbled into her hair, and she just nodded.

"You too." She whispered, "So much…"

"How have you been?" He asked softly. She sighed, wiping a non-existent tear from her eye before she sniffed quietly. Chad saw that her eyes were slightly bloodshot, so she had obviously been crying.

"I've been…" She sighed, "Okay, I think."

"Don't worry, sweetie…" Chad whispered into her hair. He pulled away from the hug and smiled, staring her in the eyes, and she giggled and blushed a little.

"I'm not, don't worry." The twelve year old said, but her friend could still see she was obviously upset. Though his arrival usually made anything better, and it seemed like it had just about; she was still sad, weary. His best friend was so delicate, so fragile… and he didn't want to upset her when she was already so down. And why wouldn't she be? Sonny was so close to her father, and this was her first Christmas without him… it had to be hard. Chad had no idea what it was like to lose a parent, and, quite frankly, he didn't want to know.

Sonny's family had been perfect, until the death tore them apart. Chad had always thought he had the perfect family – what with the arrival of his third sister three years ago, Esme, and how close they all were. But he was sure, fairly sure, that recently, at nights, he'd heard his mom and dad fighting, yelling, screaming, hurting. He tried to assure himself it was nothing… but there was a seed of doubt inside him that knew that his perfect family was slowly falling apart.

"Hey." He mumbled, smiling a little, trying to get rid of both Sonny's – and his own – scary thoughts, "It's our fifth Christmas together, yeah? It's gonna be a lot of fun, right?"

Sonny nodded, sniffing quietly.

"Smile?" Chad asked of his friend, and she did. It wasn't the kind of smile he was used to – it had a sad element to it – but she was trying. "Much better." He grinned before pulling her into a big bear hug.

Sonny laughed, glad to have her best friend back. She hadn't seen him at all since the funeral, and to be honest, he was the only thing that kept her from falling apart. Just… he made everything better. Being around Chad… she could be herself. She could smile, laugh, mess around, get into trouble, get kicked out of places… just, have fun.

That wasn't something she could do all the time.

"C'mon." Chad mumbled into her soft brown hair. "Let's go inside. I've wrote you another song!"

Sonny giggled, "You know exactly what to do to make me smile!"

She grabbed his hand, feeling the bitter coldness of the air fade away in her best friend's grip, and they smiled at each other, even though they were both hurting inside, and walked into the house.

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><p>Later that night, while Sonny was brushing her teeth ready for bed, Chad wandered into her room. He looked around and smiled – there were so many pictures on the wall. Some of him and Sonny, some of just him, one of her father a few years ago – actually, the first Christmas the two families spent together. It was Sonny, her dad, and himself, laughing, building a snowman. Everything was so perfect back then… Chad wished the times could return.<p>

He took a seat on Sonny' bed, getting back up when he felt an uncomfortable lump under the pillow. He picked up the pillow to see what it was, and noticed a small notebook, open at a specific page, which had writing scribbled all over it. Curious, he couldn't resist looking at the page, reading it.

_Dear Santa, _he read in Sonny's familiar handwriting, _I know I stopped believing in you, like, a couple of years ago, but this is an emergency. Well, it's close to Christmas, and you're, like, St Nick, the Christmas saint, so I just wanted to ask you. Please, make sure my dad is okay. I miss him loads, and I know he's in a better place, but I love him so much. And I miss him. So… maybe you can find some way to tell him I miss him? And that I love him, so much?_

_Thank you. _

_Sonny Munroe xxx_

Chad chuckled and blinked back a lone tear. Aw, Sonny… his beautiful best friend. Of course, she, the most innocent of all, would turn to Santa Claus, in a time of need, around Christmas.

"Chad?"

Hearing his best friend's voice, Chad dropped the notebook and hid it beneath the pillow again, smiling innocently as she stepped through the doorway.

"Hey, Sonny."

The small twelve year old smiled at she saw her best friend. She was in her pyjamas, yawning softly, like a little kitten. Chad couldn't help but grin.

"You okay?" She asked, judging by the look on his face that he had been caught for something. Chad shook his head, the innocent smile spreading a little wider. Sonny nodded, confused, before shoving it off and wandering over to a drawer in the corner of her room, pulling out a pair of fluffy pink bedtime socks. Chad got off of her bed and into his sleeping bag, so Sonny could sit on her bed to put the socks on, and after a long moment of thought, he spoke.

"Sonny?" He said.

"Yeah?" Sonny replied, the picture of innocence, tucked in her bed with her fluffy socks and her shining brown eyes.

Chad sighed, "Your dad would be so proud of you. And I bet he misses you loads."

For a second, Sonny's eyes darkened. Chad was worried he'd upset his best friend, but then she smiled, a tired, but still happy, smile.

"Thank you, Chad." She whispered.

"And I love you, so much." He added softly.

Sonny beamed, "I love you too." She said, "You're my bestest friend."

"And you're mine." He said, before shutting his eyes and falling into sleep.

_/C/H/A/N/N/Y/_

Three years later, on that same day, across the country in California, a sixteen-year old boy wandered into his room, wishing to avoid his step-father's evil glare, the wreck that was now his family, his life.

Chad Goldfarb had changed. So much had changed… he was forced to change. After his mom found out that his father had had an affair, the rest of the family had packed up and gone. To LA. And a man named Charles Cooper had taken them in "lovingly", tricking his mom into a relationship – a marriage… sometimes, Chad wasn't even sure Charles really _loved _his mom. He was sure he only liked Chad's money.

Yup. Chad was getting money. As an actor. And actor named Chad Dylan Cooper. He'd been forced to change his name by Charles, but not just his name – his whole self. His personality, his way of thinking, of feeling. He was different now, and he hated it.

He hadn't forgotten who he really was, though. He was Chad Goldfarb – he remembered. He remembered Texas, he even remembered Sonny. How could he forget her?

His best friend… he hadn't seen his best friend in three, nearly four years. He missed her, so, so much… he hadn't heard from her since her thirteenth birthday – well, he hadn't exactly given her reason to. He didn't give her his phone number or anything – he changed his phone – and she didn't know his address either. It was all to keep her safe, from his father who turned out to be… a rat. Chad felt sick just thinking about him.

He just wished he could see Sonny once more, hold her, tell her how much he'd missed her, how much she meant to him.

Well… maybe he could.

Hesitant, he dragged a piece of plain paper out of his desk, and a pen, and started to write…

_Dear Sonny,_

_It's me. Chad Goldfarb. Yeah, that's right… I finally kicked my lazy butt into shape and decided I couldn't keep myself away from you any longer. _

_So… yeah, I left. I'm really, really sorry, but I had a good reason. I wish I could tell you, I really do… but I don't want you to get hurt, so we'll have to leave that out…_

_Anyways, so I'm an actor now! I know, cool right? Hey, maybe you watch my show! Or not… 'Mackenzie Falls', it's called… check it out, if you can._

_Honestly, Sonny, I miss you so, so much. I'd love to see you again… I bet you've really grown! And no, I'm not saying you were short…_

_I hope life's treated you well. _

_Ooh, and Merry Christmas. _

_Your best friend, Chad. xxx_

He signed the letter at the end, before shaking his head and screwing up the paper, letting his head fall into his hands. What was he doing – trying to get himself and his best friend hurt? What if… his dad found out about this letter? What if he tracked Sonny down, because he knew that she knew something; what if he beat her until he got answers? And then, if he found out about Mackenzie Falls, well, he'd come to LA, beat Chad, beat his mom, his sisters… he couldn't let that happen. Chad couldn't be responsible for that. Wasn't that the idea of running away and not telling anyone all along? To keep Sonny, and the family, safe?

Chad didn't know anymore… he was so confused, so messed up. He missed his old life. He missed those moments where everything was fine.

What had he done to deserve losing his family, his friends?

He just didn't know anymore.

He just missed her… so, so much…

And now he'd never get to see her again…

Or would he?

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><p><strong>Okay… so that end kind of sucked. Ooohhhh welllll… at least it's finished :D I could've done more, but I just wanted to upload it so I could get on with my other Christmas stories!<strong>

**I hope you enjoyed it! Especially you, Hannah! Like I said, consider this as my Christmas present to you! :D Also, think of it as a thank-you for saying I can always talk to you... thank you so much :') And the same goes to you!**

**And everyone else - if you haven't read Don't I Know You?, well, you're really missing out! Go read it! It's A-MAY-ZING!**

**And, remember, as dear Hannah says…**

**Reviews are love! :D**

**~Amy x**


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